If you’re IU quarterbacks Edward Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel, and even Tre Roberson, you need to be watching a ton of film.
A ton.
How much is that?
That is the million-dollar question.
You know they are watching film, but during football sessions and on their own, but are they watching enough? Do their views on what a lot is match what coach Kevin Wilson thinks?
It doesn’t sound like it.
Wilson has expressed disappointment in the amount of film his quarterbacks watch in preparation for games (today IU hosts Penn State). He talked about seeing a quarterback watching TV (maybe it was Dancing with the Stars, Housewives of New Jersey, whatever) in the players lounge complex rather than film.
“I guess that’s OK,” Wilson said, “but (the quarterback) was 50 yards away from watching tape and seeing what the coverage was, seeing what their third-down tendencies are.”
Film watching is one of the Holy Grail attributes of good quarterbacks. Peyton Manning watches a lot, which is among the reasons why he’s so good when he’s healthy. NCAA rules limit how much time IU coaches can demand players spend on football.
Still, if you spend your fall Saturday’s performing in front of 40,000 or so people, and a lot more thanks to TV, you’d think you’d want to make absolutely sure you have it down.
Wilson had a pair of quarterbacks -– Sam Bradford at Oklahoma and Zak Kustok at Northwestern -– who watched a lot more take than what the IU quarterbacks are.
“There’s a commitment,” Wilson said. “When you’re balancing your academic load, your social life, when you play quarterback at the collegiate level, there’s a lot of stress. These young men have so much going on, it’s hard to play quarterback. They have a lot on their plate. But the more you work, the less that’s on your plate.”
Figure that the IU quarterbacks will lincrease their film watching. How will we know? Let’s just say the results will be very, very public each Saturday.
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Can you eat more chocolate chip cookies than Cody Zeller?
Do you want to try?
We here at Hoosier Hoopla think you should, which is why, as a Cream ‘n Crimson community service, we are pushing for a cookie eating contest at the upcoming Hoosier Hysteria basketball event (Saturday, Oct. 15, Assembly Hall).
Every school has some kind of three-point shooting, dunking contest as part of its Midnight Madness event that the average person can’t do, at least not so they’d want to do it in front of 10,000 or so fans.
But EVERYBODY can eat a cookie. And thanks to Zeller, the ultra-heralded freshman who first tossed out the idea, why not give everybody a chance.
Figure out a way to chose one fan under the age of 10 -– or maybe two, one boy and one girl -– and have them take on Zeller. Maybe toss in an adult to stop any age discrimination griping. Then get a bunch of cookies and have them go at it in Assembly Hall.
So what would the contest be? Maybe how many cookies they can eat in 30 seconds. Or put a cookie on top of a basket and have contestants jump for them, recognizing that the 6-11 Zeller MIGHT have a SLIGHT advantage.
Sure, IU’s new nutrionist Amy Freel might balk at this kind of diet. Yes, Tom Crean and his staff might not want Zeller fueling himself up on this kind of stuff given the intense practices they’ll have, but let’s not quibble over basketball details.
This is a chance to be on the cutting cookie edge, a place where no program has gone before.
What do you think?
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If Zeller is to play to all the hype surrounding him, and there’s a bunch of it given he’s considered one of the top freshman in America, he’s got to be physically ready for what he’ll face. He has a pretty good idea what that is.
“The biggest thing has been getting ready for the college level -– it’s so much faster and stronger,” Zeller said. “That’s work in the weight room. That’s getting lower on all my moves, being more explosive. It’s definitely a big step for all of us freshmen going from high school to college.”
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IU might be struggling on the football field, but it is still finding recruiting success. The Hoosiers got their 19th commitment for the Class of 2012 with defensive end-linebacker Jacarri Alexander choosing IU over Kansas State and Pitt.
Alexander comes from Iowa Central Community College and Winter Haven, Fla. He’s set to enroll in January, so he’ll be able to participate in spring practice and get a big jump on his preparation for next season. He’s listed at 6-1 and 238 pounds, and if you believe the stories, he runs a 4.61 in the 40-yard dash.
With that size and speed, he’d likely be a linebacker for the Hoosiers. And you can never have enough good, athletic, fast linebackers in this spread-offense era.
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